Go Media Podcast – Episode 8: Interview with WMC Fest Speaker Troy DeShano

In this episode, Jeff Finley and Bill Beachy sit down with WMC Fest speaker Troy DeShano from The Old and New Project.

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Show Notes

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Sponsor of this Episode

This episode is sponsored by WMC Fest 4. WMC Fest is the premier art, design, and music festival in the Midwest. Uniting creative dreamers and doers since 2010. WMC Fest takes place from August 16th through 18th at Cleveland Public Theatre. 20 speakers, 20 designers, and 30+ bands.

Go Media Quick Tip: Don’t Over Think Things

  • Be a little naive, jump in, and figure out how to swim later.
  • A common theme we’ve seen after interviewing a lot of the WMC Fest speakers this year is that they didn’t always know how to do what they wanted to do. They just knew that they wanted to do it and worked out the kinks as they ran across them.
  • Take advantage of your naivety.
  • Dive in, take a risk, and don’t get bogged down by the details.

What’s Go Media Been Up To?

  • Bill is now finished with the first draft of his book. It’s in the hands of the editor.
  • It’s Spring, which means some office reorganization. The design and Arsenal team moved their desks around. Plus, our storefront restoration project should be beginning soon. Most have moved away from the center of the office.
  • Heather Sakai also worked on cleaning up our storage areas, which allowed us to store all of the new WMC Fest merch coming in.
  • Bryan and Bill have been interviewing the new group of interns that are coming in over the Summer to work with the best small business website designers in Cleveland, Go Media.

Customer Retention: A chapter from Bill’s new book “Drawn To Business: Designed For Success”

  • If you can keep the customers you already have, you’ll save yourself time, energy, and money. Historically, we were always seeking new leads instead of being proactive on retaining those who were already here.
  • You can only make a first impression once. How you come out of the gate with that customer will dictate how well things can move forward. The initial steps and deliverables are so powerful. If you stumble out the gate, you create a sense of wariness. It can cause negative feelings towards the project, which could result in work being looked at with a far more critical eye.
  • Know what expectations you need to meet by setting those expectations with the client.
  • Under promise and over deliver. Over promising outrageous expectations will cause disappointment if you can’t meet those expectations. It will also put you in a position where you no longer enjoy doing the project because you’ve put yourself under a lot of unnecessary stress.
  • Being realistic to a client, by giving them some news that they don’t want to hear, allows you to set realistic expectations that both sides can agree upon. And, if you set the bar too high, the client will expect that kind of turn around the next time, and that’s not necessarily a client you want to retain.
  • The relationship is key to customer retention.
  • Be an advisor, not just an order taker. If you see an opportunity for your client to do something better, offer that advice.
  • Stay in touch with your customers. It doesn’t matter how or why, give them a call, or shoot them a quick email, to let them know you’re thinking about them. Watch a movie or read a blog post that reminded you of your client, tell them. You reaching out to them could spur conversation about new projects and opportunities.
  • Give your best customers your cheapest rates.

Links

Credits

Hosts: Jeff Finley and Bill Beachy
Producer: Bryan Garvin
Recorded at: Go Media

Sponsorship Opportunities

Interested in sponsoring the Go Media podcast, either episodically or exclusively? Well, hit us up at [email protected] if you are interested in advertising your business.

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